Art Inspiration

In 2013 the Paine paired the painting Sunshine after the Rain by Emil Jean Kosa, Jr with designer John Furkin who created a floral arrangement inspired by the greens in nature and the fresh atmosphere of the rainwashed scene in the painting.

The portrait of the Lady of the Lennox Family, who is grasping a string of pearls, served as the inspiration for a floral arrangement by Memorial Florists and Greenhouses during the Paine’s fifth annual Rooms of Blooms floral show in 2014.

This stunning sculpture by Dale Chihuly was presented in the Paine’s Main Gallery during the summer of 2013. It was a component of a monumental “chandelier” by the artist featuring five separate groupings of more than 1,500 pieces of glass in total. The artwork, Laguna Murano Chandelier (1996), along with four dozen other glass works by Chihuly, was on loan from the George R. Stroemple Collection.

In creating two lush arrangements, Patti Holtman and Leanne Bloedow of Hrnak’s Flowers & Gifts were inspired by the floral still life painting above the fireplace mantel in the Paine’s Ladies Reception room.

Sheila Glaske, the Paine’s Curator of Horticulture, created a gorgeous setting for the museum’s sculpture, Marguerite, as part of the Rooms of Blooms floral show in 2012. Standing amidst a garden of blue and purple flowers, the white marble figure delicately pulls the petal from a daisy as she contemplates the object of her love.

For an exhibition in 2012 the Paine paired the sculptures of Richard Taylor with the landscape paintings of Rodger Bechtold. The colors and forms of the artworks resonated beautifully with one another.

This colorful and intimate painting by William Merritt Chase shows the artist’s fiancée Alice in his studio surrounded by artworks. On loan from The Arkell Museum at Canajoharie, The Connoisseur—Studio Corner (ca. 1883) was shown at the Paine in 2011 as part of a major exhibition featuring portraits the artist painted of his family.

In 2010 the Paine presented the complete collection of 323 vintage Saturday Evening Post covers by the famed American illustrator Norman Rockwell. The covers were loaned by the National Museum of American Illustration in Newport, Rhode Island.

The walls and skylight of the Paine’s Main Gallery provided a “blue sky” setting for a major exhibition of works by Frederic Remington in 2009. Drawn from the collection of the Frederic Remington Art Museum in Ogdensburg, New York, the exhibition included twenty-six original paintings, drawings, and sculptures.

Among the most beautiful paintings ever shown at the Paine, Woman Sewing (c. 1879) by Berthe Morisot was a focal point of an exhibition of French Impressionist works in 2008. The artwork traveled to Oshkosh from the collection of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York.

This dynamic quilt, shown at the Paine in 2007, was created by Mary Lee Bendolph, perhaps the most notable artist among the celebrated Gee’s Bend quilters of rural Alabama. Mary Lee created “Strips and Strings” (2003) by improvising as she worked with the various shapes and colors of fabric.

In 2006 the Paine presented more than fifty lamps by Louis Comfort Tiffany. It was the largest exhibition of Tiffany lamps ever presented outside of New York, and it was the best attended exhibition in the Paine’s history.

This stunning Tiffany “Laburnum” lamp was displayed as part of the Paine’s Electric Tiffany exhibition in 2006. Louis Comfort Tiffany utilized the new invention of electricity to make illuminated artworks, and the Laburnum lamp design remains one of his most popular creations.